A time capsule of the greatest financial mania in the history of mankind, told in real-time by regular folks and patriots. May future generations better understand the madness of crowds, and how power and money corrupt.

Overall the nation will be fine. Sure there are some bubble areas, but we'll make it through. If this bubble does happen like all the HP want, the Gov't will bail you out. So keep on spending the free world needs you.

Most republicans I come in contact with (conservative, rural farm community) will probably vote independent, or not at all. They are pretty mad at their party, which they feel has abandoned them for the far right fringe. This does not translate into a plus for the Dems as votes for independents usually take numbers off of the left side of the isle. People here are NOT buying the low gas price B.S. and fully expect prices to skyrocket right after the elections. The war on terror has come to be recognized as just an excuse for Dubya (NOT a conservative) and the far right to do whatever they damn well please. I tell everyone I know vote independent if possible, but vote against ALL incumbents no matter what! That is the driving force in PA right now. We voters are still pretty pissed about the enormous ($60,000) pay raises and pension increases our elected majesties awarded themselves, but they can’t seem to agree on how to cut our property taxes, which are the worst in the nation according to an AARP study.

stuck in so pa, that's my experience too: republicans are disgusted, and indi conservatives who voted R half-heartedly, more against Kerry than for Bush, are fed up, too. I'm in MD, probably not far from you, so maybe we're polling the same demographic. I hear that many construction workers around Fairfield, PA have lost or are about to lose work.

I don't know anyone who doesn't see through the gas price/ terror manipulations.

The Republicans will win. With control of the voting machines, and they ability to hold citizens (non-sheeple,non-republican == "enemy combatant") without trial shall surely cement their chances for victory. Maybe some "event" prior to the election will require the shrub to be instantiated as "president for life" or some other such thing. Enjoy your new world order.

I think this generation is more screwed financially by previous ones. I would fully expect us to follow the golden rule and screw the next generation even more. Dumb kids. They don't have enough sense to be born earlier.

The GOP will do fine. If capitalist Yanks don't know how to manage their money ("I'm gonna borrow aginst mah hayouse agin an' agin!"), I'm sure many are too dumb to recognize and recount the signs of a faltering empire/economy. Either that or they're smart enough to know the government is not as responsible for the economy.

It seems where I live all the Republican candidates have to go on are smear campaigns and negative advertisements -- I guess that's what their voters want, but in the flyover states an' the Sayouth probably just the words "Bible", "creationist," and "terrorists" and "grease up the poopchute again, we're bringin' the corporate interests" are all they need to maintain their seats.

The Republican congressmen should get some balls, just tell the truth to the country about their motives, and run on a platform of eliminating the Congress and Judiciary and creating a Monarchy where they would be installed as permanent ensigns of the King. That's really what they want.

The Republican congressmen should get some balls, just tell the truth to the country about their motives, and run on a platform of eliminating the Congress and Judiciary and creating a Monarchy where they would be installed as permanent ensigns of the King. That's really what they want.

Folks, Do you really think there are still two independant parties? They are now two sides of the same coin. If any politician came out and told the truth about the "terrorists", they would fall off the political map. Why? Because the truth involves israel. More specifically, our unbridled support of their wholesale slaughter of all the arabs around them (including the palistinians and lebonese, whose land they stole after they holocausted most of the women and children civilians). We give them billions and billions of dollars each year, and billions and billions more in the most advanced weapons on top of that. By doing this, we create more and more "terrorists". You know, the guy who watched his wife and children blown to smitherines after watching his brother get executed by the jews. Anyway, my point is, any political candidate has to be semetically correct if he is to recieve any suppot from the lobbies in Washington. If he tells the truth about the jews he is shouted down as an "anti-semite", or a "hate monger", or "bigot" and effectivly run out of town. I'm hoping that more of the brain washed and brain dead here can wake up to the root of the problem, we need to quit combating the symptoms which are merely a reaction to our support of the wholesale slaughter going on over there in our name.

How about someone on The Hill gets enough balls to introduce a bill that pairs increases in total congressional compensation (salaries + other compensation) to a proportional increase in the minimum wage. If a Congressman wants to turn down an approved pay raise, his district doesn't have to raise their minimum wage.

Many Democrats support Israel because they have large Jewish consticuencies and/or are Jewish themselves. Many Republicans support Israel because they believe the Rapture will come after the Jews rule over the entire Holy Land and a War of Armageddon is fought in Northern Israel.

So, you have Democrats who support Israel on behalf of the Jewish people's fight for a homeland and Republicans who support Israel so that it can lead to a giant holy war. It's a strange partnership, to say the least.

To further complicate matters, neither the Jews in Israel, nor the Arabs in the states surrounding Israel are exactly innocent victims. Both sides have blood on their hands and are deserving of equal blame. Unfortunately, many countries of the world regularly blame Israel first, while the US is one of the only to blame the Arabs first. If the US were to completely change that stance, it would throw off the balance that has been created, and who knows what would happen.

Lastly, Israel is not by any means the sole source of Anti-US feelings. It is used as an excuse very often, but in fact most terrorism that is due to anti-Zionism tends to come to fruition in attacks against Israel itself and not against a 3rd party. The US policies regarding support of the Saudi monarchy and regarding the War in Iraq tend to lead to as much if not more anti-Americanism than the US' support for Israel.

But yes, searching for independance within the 2 parties is often a fruitless search. I tend to think the best thing that can happen for the US govt is for their to be a split govt with one party controlling congress and the other in the white house. That way you actually get some opposition that takes place and the two sides have to come to a compromise to get anything done. When you have one party controlling both the white house and the congress, well, you see what happens by looking back at the last 6 years, and it's not pretty.

Tabasco, I think you are giving these "republicans" a little to much credit. The only thing they believe in or worship is money. While the democrats have long been openly under jewish control, the republicans have now fallen to them as well. Enter the neocons, perle, feith, wolfowitz, wormser, bolten, chertoff, any of these ring a bell? They are all "republicans", Though some call them neocons, which is just a kosher code word for jewish.

The arabs in the mideast got along just fine untill 1948, and America had no enemys there as well, untill the creation of israel that is.

I guess we need to ask ourselves, Is our government putting israels interests ahead of America's? And is so, Do we even have a represenetive government any longer?

Yes, sorry, I certainly didn't mean to understate the amount in which money factors into both the Democrats and Republicans' politicians decisions. For both parties, it's a major influence: a high paying easy job with tons of perks and a sense of power. It's inherent in their job and their quest for the job.

As far as how the Israel issue plays out electorally, though, the Republicans are able to support Israel not because their party's voters are in general Jewish or sympathetic to the Jewish people, but instead because their party's voters want the Jewish people to rule all of the holy land so that it can bring on the Rapture. I think that's a factor that doesn't seem to get enough mention, but if you go ask an evangelical why they support Israel, the crux of it usually comes down to that reason, and not some yearning to help out Jews.

I have been told a thousand times at least, in the years I have spent reporting on the astonishing and repugnant abuses, lies and failures of the Bush administration, to watch my back. "Be careful," people always tell me. "These people are capable of anything. Stay off small planes, make sure you aren't being followed." A running joke between my mother and me is that she has a "safe room" set up for me in her cabin in the woods, in the event I have to flee because of something I wrote or said.

I always laughed and shook my head whenever I heard this stuff. Extreme paranoia wrapped in the tinfoil of conspiracy, I thought. This is still America, and these Bush fools will soon pass into history, I thought. I am a citizen, and the First Amendment hasn't yet been red-lined, I thought.

Matters are different now.

It seems, perhaps, that the people who warned me were not so paranoid. It seems, perhaps, that I was not paranoid enough. Legislation passed by the Republican House and Senate, legislation now marching up to the Republican White House for signature, has shattered a number of bedrock legal protections for suspects, prisoners, and pretty much anyone else George W. Bush deems to be an enemy.

So much of this legislation is wretched on the surface. Habeas corpus has been suspended for detainees suspected of terrorism or of aiding terrorism, so the Magna Carta-era rule that a person can face his accusers is now gone. Once a suspect has been thrown into prison, he does not have the right to a trial by his peers. Suspects cannot even stand in representation of themselves, another ancient protection, but must accept a military lawyer as their defender.

Illegally-obtained evidence can be used against suspects, whether that illegal evidence was gathered abroad or right here at home. To my way of thinking, this pretty much eradicates our security in persons, houses, papers, and effects, as stated in the Fourth Amendment, against illegal searches and seizures.

Speaking of collecting evidence, the torture of suspects and detainees has been broadly protected by this new legislation. While it tries to delineate what is and is not acceptable treatment of detainees, in the end, it gives George W. Bush the final word on what constitutes torture. US officials who use cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment to extract information from detainees are now shielded from prosecution.

It was two Supreme Court decisions, Hamdi v. Rumsfeld and Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, that compelled the creation of this legislation. The Hamdi decision held that a prisoner has the right of habeas corpus, and can challenge his detention before an impartial judge. The Hamdan decision held that the military commissions set up to try detainees violated both the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the Geneva Conventions.

In short, the Supreme Court wiped out virtually every legal argument the Bush administration put forth to defend its extraordinary and dangerous behavior. The passage of this legislation came after a scramble by Republicans to paper over the torture and murder of a number of detainees. As columnist Molly Ivins wrote on Wednesday, "Of the over 700 prisoners sent to Gitmo, only 10 have ever been formally charged with anything. Among other things, this bill is a CYA for torture of the innocent that has already taken place."

It seems almost certain that, at some point, the Supreme Court will hear a case to challenge the legality of this legislation, but even this is questionable. If a detainee is not allowed access to a fair trial or to the evidence against him, how can he bring a legal challenge to a court? The legislation, in anticipation of court challenges like Hamdi and Hamdan, even includes severe restrictions on judicial review over the legislation itself.

The Republicans in Congress have managed, at the behest of Mr. Bush, to draft a bill that all but erases the judicial branch of the government. Time will tell whether this aspect, along with all the others, will withstand legal challenges. If such a challenge comes, it will take time, and meanwhile there is this bill. All of the above is deplorable on its face, indefensible in a nation that prides itself on Constitutional rights, protections and the rule of law.

Underneath all this, however, is where the paranoia sets in.

Underneath all this is the definition of "enemy combatant" that has been established by this legislation. An "enemy combatant" is now no longer just someone captured "during an armed conflict" against our forces. Thanks to this legislation, George W. Bush is now able to designate as an "enemy combatant" anyone who has "purposefully and materially supported hostilities against the United States."

Consider that language a moment. "Purposefully and materially supported hostilities against the United States" is in the eye of the beholder, and this administration has proven itself to be astonishingly impatient with criticism of any kind. The broad powers given to Bush by this legislation allow him to capture, indefinitely detain, and refuse a hearing to any American citizen who speaks out against Iraq or any other part of the so-called "War on Terror."

If you write a letter to the editor attacking Bush, you could be deemed as purposefully and materially supporting hostilities against the United States. If you organize or join a public demonstration against Iraq, or against the administration, the same designation could befall you. One dark-comedy aspect of the legislation is that senators or House members who publicly disagree with Bush, criticize him, or organize investigations into his dealings could be placed under the same designation. In effect, Congress just gave Bush the power to lock them up.

By writing this essay, I could be deemed an "enemy combatant." It's that simple, and very soon, it will be the law. I always laughed when people told me to be careful. I'm not laughing anymore.

In case I disappear, remember this. America is an idea, a dream, and that is all. We have borders and armies and citizens and commerce and industry, but all this merely makes us like every other nation on this Earth. What separates us is the idea, the simple idea, that life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are our organizing principles. We can think as we please, speak as we please, write as we please, worship as we please, go where we please. We are protected from the kinds of tyranny that inspired our creation as a nation in the first place.

That was the idea. That was the dream. It may all be over now, but once upon a time, it existed. No good idea ever truly dies. The dream was here, and so was I, and so were you.

I'm not American, but I thought Americans were upset at their current government about being lied to, manipulated and led into the illegal and immoral invasion and occupation of Iraq, which is the cause of the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians. I thought they were upset about the torture, prisoner abuse, loss of freedoms, paranoia loss of world respect, etc. etc. etc. ???????

Last anon, I wish. We Americans are way too stupid and pathetic to ever wake up to such visible truths. As long as we have beer in the fridge and football on the talmudvision all is right in the world.

It's all about Energy and Empire. The hegemon in the ME, the US, is losing its position, and therefore its control and influence on the source of most of the world's energy. Concurrently, that energy source is peaking, or close to peaking.

Last anon, I wish. We Americans are way too stupid and pathetic to ever wake up to such visible truths. As long as we have beer in the fridge and football on the talmudvision all is right in the world.__________________________

Last anon, I wish. We Americans are way too stupid and pathetic to ever wake up to such visible truths. As long as we have beer in the fridge and football on the talmudvision all is right in the world.__________________________

A month ago I thought the housing crash would cost the party in COMPLETE control of the national goverment this election, but with gas prices dropping, the stock market going again and the natural gas expected to be low this year I don't know now. When I talk to Republicans most of them acknowledge a few concerns with bush, but they just HATE liberals way too much to give a crap about the country. They give the standard response drilled into them by the Republican tools that is there no difference between the two parties or the democrats just tax and spend (If I didn't hear from every single one I wouldn't think this was organized, but they all say the same thing). After a couple of weeks of attacks ads stating the dems will raise taxes the republicans will look out for themselves and the republicans will keep control...

I wish the independent candidates had a chance, but it doesn't look good right now. They actually tell people you can't have it all which doesn't work well with the me first or the poor little children crowds.

Anyone know why there are democraps and republicorps at the state level? I think party names should be banned all together...

So are we going to just "tsk,tsk" this too? Maybe speak strongly about those Bastards in Washington and what we would really like to do to them? Maybe even take a few minutes from our favorite TV show to talk about it, at least during the commercials?

America...You deserve what is being done to you! We are a bunch of gutless wonders who would make our forefathers nauseous if they knew how we act. We are letting our country be taken away from us and all we do is talk about it.

An "enemy combatant" is now no longer just someone captured "during an armed conflict" against our forces. Thanks to this legislation, George W. Bush is now able to designate as an "enemy combatant" anyone who has "purposefully and materially supported hostilities against the United States."

Consider that language a moment. "Purposefully and materially supported hostilities against the United States" is in the eye of the beholder, and this administration has proven itself to be astonishingly impatient with criticism of any kind. The broad powers given to Bush by this legislation allow him to capture, indefinitely detain, and refuse a hearing to any American citizen who speaks out against Iraq or any other part of the so-called "War on Terror."

A month ago I thought the housing crash would cost the party in COMPLETE control of the national goverment this election, but with gas prices dropping, the stock market going again and the natural gas expected to be low this year I don't know now..

Today we have a presidency coming unglued with a civil war in all but name on a horrific scale in Iraq, the Taliban back in control of most of Afghanistan and Israel goading the US into the Mother of All War Crimes by demanding we attack Iran with nuclear weapons. It's clear that George 2nd lost the first election to Al Gore and was appointed into office by the Supreme Court. And it's also become pretty obvious that Karl Rove managed to steal another election in the Presidential elections of 2004. With two separate court decisions which have determined George 2nd to have violated the law both with his treatment of prisoners in Cuba and illegal wiretapping in the US, George 2nd faces not only impeachment but possible imprisonment should all of the details of 911 be revealed.

Look for an October Surprise.

Fear the October Surprise, it's coming your way soon.

It could be a false flag operation by Israel designed to give the Gang of Fools a Casus Belli to attack Iran with nuclear weapons. Something like hitting one of our carriers in the Persian Gulf with an anti-ship missile fired from a gunboat using Iranian frequency radar. Americans have short memories and Karl Rove is well aware of the evil in the hearts of men. He wallows in evil and the best that can be said of the Bush Regime is that he has brought fear to America.

In any case, the world is in for another six weeks of the greatest danger of nuclear war since the dark days of October of 1962. George 2nd is madder than a hatter. There is a good chance this administration will do anything to prevent the Democrats for taking either the House of Representatives or the Senate. It's entirely possible that Karl Rove will incinerate America before allowing the investigations that would be part and parcel of a Democrat-controlled House of Representatives. They are the ones who vote on Impeachment and it's clear to anyone who listens to Americans speak these days, if we lived in a democracy, Bush would be toast.

If Bush is stupid enough to attack Iran, it won't take months for Americans to realize we have lost the war as was the case with Iraq, we will be able to figure it out in a couple of days. You won't be able to give dollars away and gold is going through the roof as our economy collapses and our form of government disappears. These clowns have lost three wars in a row. Am I the only person to see signs of a pattern here?

It wasn't Adolf Hitler who paid the price for WW II and his illegal war of aggression, it was the German people. We simply cannot torture and murder people on a wholesale basis without paying the butcher's bill.

For those who wonder what purpose was served by one of the first official acts of George the 2nd when he issued an executive order classifying the official records from the Reagan-Bush years, we now know. George 1st (Bush Sr) participated in a behind the scenes negotiation with Iran in October of 1980 to gain the promise of the release of the 52 American Embassy hostages. Bush's October Surprise was sufficient to gain Reagan the presidency and the humiliating defeat of Jimmy Carter. And as promised, the Iranians released the hostages on inauguration day in exchange for American arms. The acorn doesn't fall far from the tree.

Private citizens running for public office and conducting arms deals with foreign countries who hold Americans hostage is pretty close to treason. If Prescott Bush could be caught Trading with the Enemy with his Nazi pals during WW II, why shouldn't George 1st carry on the tradition? It runs in the family.

Keith better stay in England. This blog could very easily be construed as supporting hostilities against the United States and end up getting him carted off to Gitmo as an enemy combatant. Unless he capitulates now and swears his ever lasting loyalty to the Supreme Ruler of The United States going forward, of course.

This is the way of empire. I give the current constitutional system 2-3 more election cycles or until a charismatic, popular leader emerges. He or she will take the sceptre and assume the throne of power, probably declaring themselves president for life.

And yes, we only have ouselves to blame. The lefties in this country are secretly cheering passage of these police-state laws, and the right sees them as necessary evils. Both of course are delusional, and a future administration will use them to lock up opponents and seize total control.

Oh bullsh_t. You lefties are constantly whining about lawlessness in the executive branch. When your guy or gal sits in the oval office, you'll probably cheer when they ship Limbaugh off to Gitmo.

The intellectual elites and "progressives" in this country are a bigger danger to civil liberties than all of the red states combined. People in red states actually believe in things like morality and honor. Leftists, like cockroaches, only seek pleasure and avoid pain.

lmmfao, You can call me a leftie if you want (I am left handed actually). But in reality I am the furthest thing from it. Go ahead and keep those semeticly correct goggles on though, so you can make sense of what the system has turned into in your simple little mind.

"People in red states actually believe in things like morality and honor"

Those are some interesting words "morality" and "honor" you are using there. Seeing as how leaders in the Marines, a military division that focuses it training on morality and character, were opposed to the toture legislation, you must be using those words to mean something completely different. You might as well use "gleep" and "glop"; your words would have as much meaning.

"People in red states actually believe in things like morality and honor."

Prove it.

No really, we'd all appreciate it if that were really the case. Start demanding actual morality and honor from the people you support. We'd all be alot better off.

You can start by supporting the Constitution, due process, the system of checks and balances, government accountability, and denouncing pork barrel spending (cough, cough, of which the red states are the greatest recipients, cough, cough), dishonest pre-emptive wars that kill innocent people and American soldiers for no reason, lying to the public about pre-emptive wars, lobbyist pay-for-play politics, and on and on.

Please don't ever stop squabblin - you lefties and righties - I just love a good fight. You on the right - the left says you're fascists. You on the left - the right thinks you are fairies. How about a series of duels at 10 paces?

funny that anonymous isn't standing behind her or his words with even an impromptu nom de plume. Must not be from a red state.

Hey, is Florida a red state?Substantiated by Reuters:Congressman Mark Foley (R-FL) planned to resign today, hours after ABC questioned him about sexually explicit internet messages with current and former Congressional pages under the age of 18.

Hours earlier, ABC News had read excerpts of instant messages provided by former pages who said the congressman, under the AOL Instant Messenger screen name Maf54, made repeated references to sexual organs and acts.

Is it what red staters call acts of morality and honor when the chairman of the House caucus on missing and exploited children IMs his underage congressional interns with inappropriate sentiments? Did Clinton get busted because his intern was of the age of majority?

Torture Bill States Non-Allegiance To Bush Is TerrorismLegislation tolls the bell for the day America died, birth of the dictatorship

Paul Joseph Watson/Prison Planet.com | September 29 2006

Buried amongst the untold affronts to the Bill of Rights, the Constitution and the very spirit of America, the torture bill contains a definition of "wrongfully aiding the enemy" which labels all American citizens who breach their "allegiance" to President Bush and the actions of his government as terrorists subject to possible arrest, torture and conviction in front of a military tribunal.

Subsection 4(b) (26) of section 950v. of HR 6166 - Crimes triable by military commissions - includes the following definition.

"Any person subject to this chapter who, in breach of an allegiance or duty to the United States, knowingly and intentionally aids an enemy of the United States, or one of the co-belligerents of the enemy, shall be punished as a military commission under this chapter may direct."

CDC informed the public in many ways, occasionally via interviews with reporters, other times in talks or professional presentations, but most often with updates in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).

The first such report was issued on October 12, 2001 following the finding on October 4 of a case of anthrax in Florida.

A second update was published on October 19, 2001, stressing that the early cases were due to the intentional release of B. anthracis, different from a conventional outbreak.

CDC's third update came on October 26, 2001 with both case data and educational information on the management of anthrax exposure.

A fourth update arrived on November 2, 2001. It included a graph of likely onset times for the 21 cases (16 confirmed and 5 suspect) that were identified at that time, linking most of them to three anthrax-laden letters sent earlier.

A week later on November 9, 2001 a fifth update was published, with information about 22 cases (the size of the outbreak at that time) and on adverse events that occur following mass treatment to prevent symptoms of anthrax.

A sixth update appeared on November 16, 2001 with guidance on who should receive preventive treatment for anthrax. The November 16 report also cited efforts that were being made by CDC to assist foreign countries concerned with anthrax and terrorist activities.

A seventh update was issued on November 30, 2001 on the 23rd anthrax case, arising under mysterious circumstances in Connecticut.

An eighth update also appeared on November 30, 2001, but focused on adverse events that followed mass treatment of postal workers who were potentially exposed to anthrax.

A previously suspected case was removed by CDC in a ninth update of December 7, 2001, reducing the outbreak to 22 probable cases.

Test results for anthrax contamination of the Brentwood Mail Processing and Distribution Center in the District of Columbia was presented by CDC in a tenth update of December 21, 2001. These findings helped explain why four local postal workers developed inhalation anthrax.

republicans will increase their lead cos the morons that vote them in will blame fed govt and jewish banks for whole mess. They's walk from the debt and then bitch about big govt as they cash their farm subsidies and welfare checks. Dem states will be demolished with no jobs and massive defaults, but they weren't votin bush anyway.